The United Forces
by TheHonourableGentleman
Summary: Sokka is placed in charge creating the United Forces charged with protecting the newly formed Republic of Nations. It is no small task and he recruits a certain blind earthbender and a golden eyed princess to help him to train the new recruits. Follow their adventures and the challenges they face. Eventual Sokka x Azula, but not before some angry siblings attempt to intervene.
1. Chapter 1

The United Forces Chapter 1

The end of the Hundred Year War had been the biggest celebration seen for… well… a century. People had been so excited that their nations were not at war that the petty arguments which had plagued the world were forgotten temporarily. Soldiers went home to their families, prisoners of war were released and animosity was temporarily forgotten. The group responsible for the defeat of Phoenix King Ozai enjoyed a year of rest and recuperation. With no disputes to resolve, their lives were peaceful.

A year after the coming of Sozin's Comet, the peace which had cost so many lives was brought into jeopardy by the inability of the new Fire Lord Zuko and Earth King Kuei to reach a decision over the fate of Fire Nation colonies on the Earth continent. Only after intervention of the Avatar and listening to the views of the populous was peace finally restored. After this, problems began to appear all over the globe and the Gaang went their separate ways to solve them. Aang and Katara travelled together resolving disputes whilst founding the New Air Nation. Firelord Zuko remained in the Fire Nation to govern his nation through this time of change, Toph left for the Earth Kingdom to found her Metal-Bending academy. Sokka however, had no positions of responsibility and spent his time travelling from friend to friend and freeloading off his fame as a war hero. Azula escaped from the Asylum and fled into oblivion, never found despite numerous efforts to hunt her down.

* * *

Sokka was shown into the regal office of The Fire Lord, Zuko sat behind the desk and gestured for him to take a seat. Sokka had received summons from the Fire Lord early that morning and wondered what exactly this meeting was about, he tried to think if he had done anything bad recently. There had been that one bar fight he and Toph had started last week when she can to visit him, but he was pretty certain they had managed to escape before soldiers arrived who might report them to the Fire Lord. "What can I do for you this fine day, Zuko?" asked Sokka in an innocent way. Zuko looked suspiciously at Sokka before replying.

"Don't worry, this isn't about the bar fight you started last week"

"Shit"

"Language"

"Sorry Mr Fire Lord"

"Now, down to business. One of the clauses on the peace agreement I signed to end the Hundred Year War was that the armed forces of the Fire Nation were to be reduced in size to prevent the possibility of another all-out invasion similar to the one Sozin used to start the war. Unfortunately, this means that I can no longer spare the regiments currently defending Fire Nation citizens in the colonies, especially with all these coup attempts coming at me left, right and centre. The Earth King is facing similar problems and so we have decided to create a military force charged with the defence of the United Republic."

"Is that a good idea?" asked Sokka "I mean, setting up a whole new armed forces is no mean feat."

"That's why we've decided to appoint someone we both trust to oversee this project" Zuko said looking into Sokka's eyes.

"Who?" Zuko just kept starring at Sokka until his confused expression gave way to one of understanding.

"Me?" said Sokka aghast, as though Zuko has just told him that he would be abdicating his throne to Appa.

"We needed someone who had the interests of the people in mind rather than his own personal advancement. Since you haven't been doing anything productive recently, I figured you would wouldn't have any other pressing responsibilities?

"I don't know, it's a big responsibility and I'm not sure…"

"And of course I did have to make special arrangements for the charges against you for disturbing the peace during that bar fight were dropped. And all the criminal damage…"

"Where do I sign?"

"I'm glad you see it my way."

* * *

Sokka lay on his bed in the airship currently on its way to the new central command base of the United Forces. It was on an island in the bay of Republic City and had previously been a fire nation naval base but had long been abandoned. The rest of the meeting had been a bit of a blur, Zuko had given him a commissioning scroll which gave him the rank of Field Marshall of The United Forces and a blank cheque to cover all the cost incurred. The title had a nice ring to it but he soon realised that at the moment he was Field Marshall of precisely bugger-all and Zuko made it quite clear what would happen if he abused the funds set aside for this project.

He had originally thought it would be simply a matter of recruiting as many people as possible but soon realised that it would not be that simple. Who would train them? He could easily train the non-bender himself as he was a sword master in his own right and had learn chi blocking and knife throwing from Ty Lee and Mai before they had both left the Capital City. But he knew nothing about Earthbending or Firebending except that they hurt. The first thing he needed to do was find a master Earthbender and Firbender to help train the new recruits, and he had a certain Master Earthbender in mind…

* * *

"You want me to do WHAT Snoozles?" shouted Toph.

"Well I just thought that the recruits deserved the best Earthbender in the World to train them, but if you're not interested…" Sokka said smoothly, knowning that the young earthbender could not resist compliments."

"Keep talking."

"Well it would be a well-paid job, and you would have to stay in Republic City for the foreseeable future. You'd be a long, long way from your parents so they probably wouldn't visit very often… And General Bei Fong does have a nice ring to it…"

"Fine, I'll do it"

"Yes! Now all I need is a master firebender. Any ideas?"

"I suppose Zuko and Aang are both out of the question. Iroh?"

"I've already asked him and he says that he is quite content in his tea shop and claims to be too old, too lazy maybe?" Sokka grumbled this last part sarcastically.

"Perhaps we should hold interviews or something?" suggested Toph and then recoiled as though the concept of something as formal as an interview physically repulsed her.

"That's… actually not a bad idea."

* * *

She looked at the newspaper advert, 'Firebending Master required for well payed training post'. She smirked, raising one eyebrow. She did need a job now she was living in Republic City, bills didn't pay themselves. She had almost used up all of the money she had stored in various banks across the continent in case she had to make a run for it. Her golden eyes narrowed as she memorised the time and place of the interviews.


	2. Chapter 2

The United Forces Chapter 2

"Next candidate please." Said Sokka in a very bored tone indicative of the number of time he had said those same words. "Your name please?"

"I am Master Raijin"

"Nice to meet you, in order to pass this interview and get the job. All you need to do is defeat little ol' me in battle."

"You are a fire bender as well?"

"Nope."

"An earthbender then?"

"No, but my colleague here is a very fine earthbender."

"Cut the crap Snoozles" interjected Toph even more bored than he was

"Right… I am a non-bender and I won't be using any weapons so it shouldn't be too much of a challenge"

Raijin's eyes shone greedily, thinking that the only thing standing between him and a well-paid cushy job was an unarmed non-bender. On those observations he was quite correct, he quite forgot that this was the same non-bender who had defeated an entire air force almost singlehandedly. He struck a fire bending pose as Sokka rose from his chair and also took a more relaxed fighting pose, standing side on.

"Begin" cried Toph gleefully, she never did get tired of seeing people get knocked onto their asses. The best bit was the confused look on their face afterwards.

The firebending master began the movements necessary to summon a horizontal wave of fire. To give him credit, he almost made it to the end of the kata before Sokka sprinted towards him at a slightly scary speed and landed a punch directly at the chakra point in-between his eyes. Raijin was confused, he was just about to summon a wave of fire to knock this non-bender onto the floor and land an easy job, but suddenly his muscles wouldn't move as he wanted them to. His arms, legs and torso all went limp and he crashed to the floor, his face contorted into an expression of total confusion. Toph guffawed, that was definitely in the top ten of today's applicants.

"5 seconds, not bad but it's not a record breaker." Said Toph

"Damn! I think my legs are tired from doing this all day."

"Nice aim though, it was kinda' messy when you punched that one guy in the nose"

"That was definitely a low point, but you know, practise makes perfect." Sokka realised that the most recent applicant was still lying on the floor. "Toph, would you do the honours?"

Toph moved her hand in a twisting motion causing a section of the earthen floor to form a wheelchair around the limp frame of Master Raijin. "Thank you for your application Master Raijin, we'll let you know the results of your application within seven working days…" Sokka paused for a moment to clear his throat. Toph knew he was actually just trying to stop himself from breaking down into laughter. "The effects should wear off within 30-35 minutes, if you would be so kind as to remain in the waiting area for that time."Sokka let out a short laugh which he attempted to pass off as a cough, poorly. "Toph?"

Toph moved her hand once again and the wheel chair wheeled itself into a chamber just off from the interview room. Master Raijin looked around and surveyed about a dozen people sat in identical wheelchairs in a similar predicament to him. Suddenly, he didn't feel quite so humiliated.

"I believe that is it" said Sokka gloomily "We've interviewed over 50 self-proclaimed masters today and not one of them has lasted more than 30 seconds."

"Maybe you should just teach them firebending, you'd do about as good as job as any of them" Toph suggested nodding towards the room full of incapacitated applicants.

"Excuse me? Is this where the interviews for the teaching post are being held?" a voice interrupted. Sokka spun round to face the source whereas Toph merely shifted her earthbending to sense the vibrations of the new comer.

"Shit"

"Sokka, language"

"Double shit"

"Sokka! Oh, shit" said Toph finally realising why her earthbending detected something strangely familiar about the person standing across the room from her.

"You haven't answered my questions" said Princess Azula.

"You haven't tried to kill me yet." Replied Sokka, genuinely confused as to the turn of events.

"I didn't realise that was part of the interview, but if I must…" Azula's fists became engulfed in blue flames

"Wait, wait, wait" interrupted Toph. "Are you actually here for the job?"

"I thought my initial line of questioning made the answer to that question quite clear."

"She's not lying, although it was always hard to tell with this one" sensing no change in the Princess's heartbeat.

"So you're not here to kill us?" asked Sokka, finally recovering.

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Um… maybe because you are a mental psycho princess who hates us."

"Now whoever gave you that impression?" her words dripping with sarcasm

"You tried to kill me at least…" Sokka paused to count the number of times the princess had tried to kill him during the war, at this rate he'd need to start using toes.

"That is what people do during a war, is it not?" she relied placing emphasis on the word 'war'.

"The spicy princess does make an excellent point." Said Toph from the sidelines, in a referee style manner.

"I haven't tried to kill anyone since the end of the war, and I have had time to reflect upon what I was fighting for during the war. I have realised that I was fighting for my father's approval rather than anything else."

"Again, she speaks the truth." Said referee Toph.

"So you don't want to kill us?" said Sokka after processing this information.

"Not particularly, no." answered Azula. Now looking at her manicured nails rather than at Sokka.

"And you want to teach firebending?"

"Provided it is paid, yes." Sokka was above all else, a logical person. Many of his friends; Katara, Zuko and Aang, thought with their feeling first and then their brain kicked in about a minute later. Sokka however preferred to base his decisions on reason and fact. So far Azula seemed completely reasonable, true she had tried to kill him. Had he not also tried to kill her? She seemed a little crazy to him when they did meet and Zuko had said that it had something to do with her mother. He saw no reason to discriminate her because of her upbringing, he knew how hard it was to grow up without a mother.

"She is a good firebender" pointed out Sokka

"A very good firebender. She almost killed Zuko and he isn't too shabby." added Toph, her mouth curling into a sinister smile.

"Why thank you, does that mean I have got the job?"

"Zuko is gonna flip his shit when he find out." Pointed out Toph.

"Well he… did give me full authority to appoint other officers at my discretion. And the recruits would get training from one of the best firebenders in the world…"

"Is that a yes?"

Sokka smiled. "Welcome to the United Forces, General Azula"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sokka was very pleased with himself so far. He had managed to secure two of the world's best benders to train the United Forces and whilst he was unsure about Azula's motives, he saw no reason to be hostile if she behaved. After moving into their new base of operations, which Sokka had named the United Forces Military Academy, he started to consider what their next steps should be. Sokka was eager to start training recruits but knew that without the proper supplies and infrastructure it would be pointless. He would need to buy enough weapons to supply the non-bender soldiers as well as war balloons and battleships for the air force and navy. Sokka smiled to himself, it was time to go shopping.

"Toph, are you clear on what to do" asked Sokka for the hundredth time.

"Yes, I am to meet with the engineer to review his prototypes for ships and balloons." Toph reiplied as though she were reading it off an autocue.

"Good, now off you go. Azula, come with me". Toph stepped aboard her carriage which departed for the factory.

"What is so important that it requires both of us to go?" asked Azula raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"I have made an appointment with a tailor to design our uniform, exciting isn't it?" Said Sokka climbing into a second carriage, evidently rather excited himself. Azula climbed in as well and sat opposite him.

"You just like clothes a lot don't you?"

"Actually, I believe that a good uniform can instil pride into those who wear it and fear into those who see it…" Azula looked at him disbelievingly. "…and I really like clothes" added Sokka realising he was fooling no one.

The princess smirked "That's fortunate because as it happens, so do I." They both laughed as the carriage made its way along the streets of Yu Dao to the tailor Sokka had booked. After they finished laughing there was a peaceful silence between the two of them.

"Tell me princess, what happened to you after you escaped from the asylum? I remember Zuko telling me that you had gone insane but all I see in front of me is a perfectly sane young lady with a rather caustic sense of humour?" Although Sokka had phrased the question casually, he had a concerned look in his eye.

"I'm not sure I was ever truly insane. My mother never showed me any love or attention, she thought I was a monster and out of spite I became one. That suited my father perfectly as he sent me across the world to hunt the avatar and his group. I don't think I ever wanted to kill the avatar, I just wanted my father to accept me in a way my mother hadn't. When I was defeated on the day of my coronation I lost direction, I didn't know what I wanted, and I needed to just think. Fortunately 6 months in the asylum courtesy of Fire Lord Zuko gave me all the thinking time I needed. I realised that whilst overthrowing Zuko and ruling the world would be fairly easy, it wasn't what I wanted. But there is still something I can't work out…"

"And what is that?"

"Why the hell I am telling you all this!"

"Perhaps it's my relaxed personality and no-nonsense attitude." Azula snorted derisively "Or maybe it's because I'm the first person to ask who is willing to see your side of the story. I'm guessing Zuko and my sister weren't too understanding of the whole situation?"

"They were too obsessed with screaming at me calling me insane to listen as it happens. I'm actually surprised you aren't angrier to be honest, I did nearly kill the avatar and your sister."

"At the time I was, but I'm not one to hold grudges for more than about a week. In hind sight, we were at war with one another so it would have been a bit disappointing if you hadn't tried to kill us a few times. Plus I know how annoying those two can be, I have considered killing them myself a few times." They both laughed at that. "Did you ever manage to work out what you wanted?"

"No I didn't, but I decided that it probably wasn't going to be found in a dingy prison cell so I escaped. I only came to the interview because I was short on money and figured I had better get a job."

"Well I hope that you managed to find what you want, provided it doesn't require killing too many people. Needless to say, I won't discuss anything you've said today with anyone. You have my word on that."

"Really, I figured you would tell Zuzu everything as soon as you got back?"

"And expect him to be reasonable about it, please. He'd have you carted off to prison before I could tell him the whole story. You are probably the best firebender in the world and one of the best strategists, I would be a fool to lose you from The United Forces. Plus I figured you could use someone on your side for once." Sokka added this last sentence is a softer tone, he could only imagine what it would be like to grow up as she had and instead of being given help, was thrown in an asylum to be forgotten. She didn't want his pity, he knew that, but perhaps his support would help.

"Thank you." She didn't know what else to say, her life so far had been dominated by people who wither wished to use her for their own ends or those who considered her the devil incarnate. It was a welcome change to have someone that would be on her side for once.

"We're here" called the coachman from outside as he opened the door. They both stepped out and made their way to the front door of the tailor's shop.

* * *

"So how many did you want to order? We can do you a bulk discount if you order over 100." After many hours of deliberation, Sokka and Azula had finally reached a decision on uniforms. They both though it best to have two different uniforms, one for ceremonial duties and the other for combat. The ceremonial uniform consisted of a navy blue, high collared tunic with brass buttons worn with tightly fitting trousers of the same material with scarlet stripes up the seams. These were worn with knee high black leather boots and a peaked cap. Different ranks were going to be distinguished by insignia on the shoulder as well as with different styles of belt and aiguillettes. Sokka's Field Marshal uniform consisted of a gold braided belt, complex aiguillette and a scarlet sash, Azula's was very similar but the aiguillette was simpler. The combat uniform was much simpler, consisting of a loosely fitting pair of trousers and a shirt both made of black material designed so that armour could easily be worn on top. By the time all this had been decided, the sun had begun to set and the tailor found his eyelids becoming heavy.

"We'll take 50 of each in varying sizes" said Sokka. "50,000 that is" he added with a chuckle. The tailor looked shocked for a second, then confused and then he fainted. Sokka just managed to catch him under the arms before his head hit the floor and sat his limp body in a chair. They relayed their order to the secretary who whilst surprised by the huge order, did manage to maintain consciousness to her credit. They made their way outside and hailed a carriage to take them back to the port where they could take a boat back to the base. Sokka caught a glimpse of himself reflected in the glass from of the tailors shop and started posing.

"My don't you look dashing." Remarked Azula sarcastically, she couldn't deny that his firm muscular legs looked very nice in the tight trousers but he didn't need to know that, his ego was big enough already.

"Why thank you General, you look rather fine yourself" replied Sokka, pretending he hadn't heard the irony in her voice. "But don't think I didn't catch you checking out my arse, not that I can blame you really."

"If you really want to delude yourself, I can't stop you." Azula replied turning around ans walking towards the stationary carriage, hoping he hadn't noticed her blush ever so slightly at being caught. As revenge she put a feminine sway into her hips as she walked, causing Sokka to stare and blush. "Didn't anyone ever teach you it was rude to stare?" His face became a darker shade of red.

"Anyone obviously hasn't seen you in tight trousers before." He muttered under his breath, joining Azula inside the carriage.

* * *

AN: I've based the ceremonial uniform on the British Army No.1 dress uniform if you want to know what I tried to describe in this chapter.


End file.
